NEMO clearly states their intentions behind the Hornet 2P: “NEMO’s Hornet 2P is the only 2lb freestanding backpacking tent with two doors and two vestibules.”

And that sentence does a very nice and succinct job of explaining what the Hornet is, who it’s for, and why it stands out.

NEMO Hornet 2P, Alaska Basin, WY.

2 lbs is light enough that hiking big days with the Hornet on your back doesn’t sound like a terrible idea, while its freestanding two-door, two-vestibule design means that it should still be plenty livable for trips where you spend more time in the tent than on the trail.

Setup

I got the hang of setting up the Hornet very quickly. Its asymmetrical, tripod pole design plus intuitive clips make it very easy to figure out how the body of the tent is supposed to set up, and the fly clips on easily. The most time-consuming part of the process is staking everything out taught afterward.

NEMO Hornet 2P, Alaska Basin, WY.
The Hornet 2P uses jake’s feet at the two head corners, and a grommet for the single foot pole. The two corners at the foot are pulled out with stakes that also secure the corners of the fly. You can set it up without staking the foot corners, but the tent will hang flaccid and get very loud in any sort of wind and the corners will droop around your feet, so I recommend staking it out fully. The guy lines are very easy to use and they cinch down well, making it easy to pull the whole fly taught.

Livability

The Hornet 2P has a very asymmetrical shape, it’s 85” long and 51” wide at the head, but only 43” wide at the foot. I found that at 6’ tall, I had just enough extra room at my head and feet — I can fit a small bag at my feet and use a full-sized pillow without brushing the walls too hard. In addition it’s wide enough to fit two 20″ sleeping pads side by side.

The Hornet 2P sleeps one person + gear very comfortably. There is more than enough room, though the Hornet doesn’t feel as palatial as the (much heavier) Kelty TN2 I reviewed earlier this summer.

With two people in the tent, things become much more…cozy. It’s not uncomfortable, but if you dislike the other person a little bit at the beginning of the night, you’ll surely hate them by the end — this is not a tent to share with your ex, that coworker you can’t stand, or the guy at the office who always has tuna breath.
Since the foot of the tent is so narrow and has much less vertical walls, I don’t recommend trying to sleep head to foot — you’ll just need to suck it up and enjoy the pillow talk.

There is a small roof pocket that fits a phone or sunglasses, and there are loops to hang gear, or a platform but the tent doesn’t come with one. There are also mesh pockets on each side.

While it doesn’t have any fancy adjustable vents, the Hornet breathes well, the fly is separated from the inner mesh very well, and, particularly at the head of the tent, there is a large gap to allow a breeze in. If you’re not interested in this much airflow you can just orient the tent with the head downwind.

NEMO emphasizes the Hornet’s two doors and vestibule for good reason — they are a key component to its livability. It’s really handy for both occupants of the tent to be able to stash their stinky shoes and pack on their side of the tent, and be able to exit the tent for nature’s midnight callings without having to crawl over their partner.

The Hornet 2P doesn’t have the biggest vestibules out there, but I found they were more than adequate to cover all of the necessary gear. And there are easy-to-use toggle cords to hold the vestibules and mesh doors open if you’re in need of some fresh air.

Even though its ultralight design means that the Hornet sheds some of the bells and whistles of heavier, more luxurious options, it’s still more than comfortable enough for an evening spent hiding from rain or mosquitos.